The slightly rough cover of La Montagne Dorée, with its fragile paper and spartan layout, make it look like an instruction manual. Self-published by Myriam Ziehli, the book was shortlisted for the Aperture Foundation Photobook Award at Paris Photo 2013, probably for both its subject matter and its investigative method, carried out with clinical rigor and the eye of a dreamer.
Myriam Ziehli took inspiration from the legend of the Devil’s Bridge, a widespread tale in European folklore, in which someone makes a pact with the Devil to help him build a bridge. In exchange, the Devil asks for the soul of the first person to cross the completed bridge. Often, the Devil is tricked by humans, who send an animal across first, and the Devil takes revenge by destroying the bridge. With the arrival of an Egyptian real-estate developer in the Swiss village of Andermatt, Myriam Ziehli revived the myth.
She assembled the elements into a fictional piece, somewhere between archival images and contemporary documentary photography. Various sets, costumes and characters compose a sort of mythological, mystical herbarium exuding a subtle whiff of mystery. Circling around it, the reader becomes caught in a spiral, a diabolical myth. The assemblance seems certain, and we began to feel like we’re reading a script annotated by a demon overlooking the mountains themselves, rearranging the elements of his little theatre like so many vulnerable pawns.
We think of the work of Estelle Hanania and Charles Fréger on the myths of central Europe, but there’s something deeper at work. The book is borderline disturbing, unique, with each photograph betraying the signs of a conspiracy.
BOOK
La Montagne Dorée
150 copie available only
35 euros
More informations on Paris Photo 2013 website : http://www.parisphoto.com
And on the legend of the Devil’s Bridge (in French) : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Diable
